After owners of a Portland strip club ignored every legal proceeding and deadline, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is asking a federal court to order the company to bargain with dancers.
Dancers at the Magic Tavern in Northwest Portland went on strike in April 2023 to demand a safer workplace, including hiring a licensed security guard. Then in mail ballots counted Sept. 7, they voted 16-0 to join Actors’ Equity Association. Equity, as the union is known, primarily represents stage actors, but it also represents nude dancers at Star Garden in North Hollywood.
Under federal labor law, dancers’ vote to unionize meant that club owners Benjamin Donohue and Matthew King were required to bargain in good faith with the union to try to reach a collective bargaining agreement covering the 27 employees in the bargaining unit.
Donohue and King failed to show up to the NLRB’s pre-election hearing or its vote count. Then they ignored all communication with the union and refused to bargain or meet with dancers who unionized. After two and a half months, Equity filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company for refusal to bargain.
The owners refused to respond to that either, and on March 19, 2024, the NLRB issued a formal complaint and scheduled a hearing before a federal administrative law judge. Again the owners didn’t respond, or show up to the hearing. Their no-show resulted in a default judgment that Magic Tavern was breaking federal labor law by refusing to bargain with the union. The owners then ignored a July 9 agency order to start bargaining within 21 days. Now the NLRB is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals to enforce the order. If the owners refuse they could be held in contempt of court and face fines and jail time.
In a July 14 Instagram post, the company said it’s changing its name to Shady Lady Tavern, adding that it’s “under new management” and is calling for dancer auditions.
But a July 27 visit by this reporter to the club at 2460 NW 24th Ave. confirmed Donohue still was in charge. Donohue earlier declined multiple requests for comment. In person, he went further. “You are not allowed to solicit any information from any bartender, dancer, or any customer about that situation,” Donohue said. “We don’t talk about or mention that in my establishment.” Federal law says employers may not bar workers from talking about the union during working time if they’re allowed to talk about other non-work-related subjects.
“I just hope they don’t keep that name,” said a union member who asked to be referred to by her stage name, Nyx. “Why would they want to be associated with ‘shady’ business practices? And I don’t know what they mean by new management, it’s the same owners. They can’t just escape us. We think it would be a point of pride for [Magic Tavern] to advertise as the ‘first union strip club in Portland.’ All that means is treating us fairly and respectfully.”
